Electrical forces are generated by the body under normal, abnormal, and healing states of health. J. Watson and E. M. Downes, Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing, 17, 161-9, March, 1979, has summarized the status of various phenomena in the investigation of the electrical enhancement of bone healing. Compression of bones produces (via a piezoelectric effect) a local negative charge which is associated with osteoblastic activity and consequent bone deposition. Watson also reported the results of treatment for various types of bone-nonunion in eight patients in long-term clinical trials. Of these eight, six cases resulted in successful bone unions.
Metallic elements at low concentrations in living tissues are involved in a biochemical system which is capable of maintaining a measurable emf. The electrochemical nature of this system then plays a vital role in regulating the amount of growth as well as the rate of growth of new tissues--including hyperplasias and malignant neoplasms.
The results of preliminary studies in development of the invention indicate that cancerous tissues (human mammary tissues, human lymph-node tissues, and subcutaneously implanted mouse hepatomas) exhibit a small negative emf (a few millivolts) relative to "normal" tissues, e.g., skin. In subcutaneously implanted mouse hepatomas there is an asymmetric distribution of some metal atoms or ions (particularly zinc and iron) between the interior mushy tissue, the interior surface of the tumor's capsule, and the external surface of the tumor's capsule.
The primary advantages of the invention are the reproducibly reliable identification of malignant neoplastic cells and the speed (a few seconds per measurement) with which such differential identifications can be made. Histological examination of frozen tissue sections typically requires at least 20 minutes per specimen. This prolongs the time the patient must remain under anaesthesia.
The new hypothesis presented herein is that metallic elements and ions at low concentrations within cellular material are involved in a biochemical system which is capable of maintaining a measurable emf. Based on extensive understanding of well-known principles of catalysis and electrochemical technology, this new and unique hypothesis helps to explain the growth of neoplasms. This unusual synergistic combination of two entirely different disciplines with biochemistry has resulted in a new approach to research in tumor growth.
Normal concentrations of trace elements within humans and other animals are covered extensively by Underwood, Trace Elements in Human and Animal Nutrition, Academic Press, New York (1971). Publications covering specific elements and their effects in both normal and abnormal tissues are increasing. Fisher, "Function and Homeostesis of Copper and Zinc in Mammals", The Science of the Total Environment, 4:373 (1975) discusses primarily biomedical investigations involving Zn. Since then there have been major efforts directed at understanding the effects of Zn compounds on both normal and abnormal biological tissues. Several independent laboratories have reported many observations pertaining to Zn concentrations and correlations with reduced tumor growth, lower incidence of tumor development, and positive effects from various Zn treatments. Munro, H. N. and M. C. Lindner, "Ferritin: Structure, Biosynthesis, and Role in Iron Metabolism", Physiological Reviews, 58(2):317 (1978) and G. M. Williams, N. Hiortoa, and J. M. Rice, "The Resistance of Spontaneous Mouse Hepatocellular Neoplasm to Iron Accumulation During Rapid Iron Loading by Parenteral Administration and Their Transplantability", American Journal of Pathology, 94(1) :65 (1979), report conflicting results on the effects of Fe treatment in cancerous cells.
Despite this extensive literature, little work has been reported pertaining to the actual chemical mechanisms involved in hyperplastic growth. Essentially no references specifically direct their major emphasis toward the electrochemical effects of such mechanisms. The importance of completely understanding these fundamental properties prompted the initial research studies resulting in the invention.
Based on the assumption that certain neoplastic activity could be microscopically catalyzed by the formation of localized electrochemical cells, experiments were designed to determine what chemical structures would be required. Conceptual models of a tumor structure with interior and exterior chemical systems having two different electrochemical potentials, which would produce a measurable, regulated emf across the capsule (or wall) of such a tumor, were deduced.